Can an old rook learn new tricks?

Rooks - smart, wild members of the corvid family – can learn to follow human voice commands, just like dogs. Researchers tested a rook named Leonidas (Leo) and found he could learn three commands by sound alone, without relying on gestures, lip movements, or other clues. Two more rooks also showed they could learn. This suggests that domestication isn’t required for animals to learn to follow human vocal cues — some species may simply use their natural communication skills to figure it out. Research team at the Clayton Comparative Cognition Lab - Francesca M. Cornero, Willa M. Lane, and Prof. Nicola S. Clayton, FRS.
#AnimalCognition, #SmartBirds, #AnimalCognition, #AnimalBehaviour, #CleverCrow, #BirdResearch

To find out more - https://link.springer.com/article/10....